Saturday, December 12, 2015

Christmas ~ Canadian Style with author Jessica E. Subject #Canada

My Christmas alien romance, Hey, Santa, takes place at Christmas, and to me that not only means time with family, it also means snow. Living in Canada, we get snow in the fall, throughout the winter, and into the spring. Sometimes even in the summer. Although we don't have any that has stayed yet this season, it is rare for us not to have snow at Christmas. Now, every part of Canada is different in terms of the weather they get. The Maritimes seem to get the most snow, whereas the prairie provinces get really cold temperatures but not as much snow.

This weather can lead to some facts of life and memories. Here are some of mine:

  • My grandparents live six hours north from us. In the winter, we rarely visited them. It was just a part of growing up, and it is still the same to this day.
  • Just before Christmas, I was visiting my other grandparents, and my father came to pick me up from their place to bring me home for the holidays. Well, when he left, the weather was fine, but on the way home, the weather was so bad, that we had to stop in London and take the train the rest of the way home.
  • In the snow, kids usually make snowmen, well, not my family. Instead, my mother helped my brother and I to make snowhorses, and we rode them until they melted.
  • One winter, we went tobogganing in a nearby town. There was a giant hill that flattened out at the bottom, and then there was a river further out. Most people never made it to the river when sledding down the hill. Well, my brother went on the toboggan with one of my cousins. We all thought they were going to stop before the river, but they didn’t. Both of them fell right in. As a child, I had never seen adults move so fast. They had the two boys out of the water, back up the hill, and stripped to nothing within seconds. Thank goodness they were both okay.
  • Thirteen years ago, when my husband and I were living in the country, I was driving to work, and I slipped on a patch of black ice. Now, on my right was a ditch, and on my left was a snowy field, hydro poles lining that side of the road. The truck slipped to the left. Thankfully, there was no traffic, and I slid into the field in between the poles. No damage was done to the truck, but the follwing summer, you could see where I went into the field by the lack of corn growing. Little did I know that at the time, I was just pregnant with my first child.
Do you get snow where you live? If so, what are some of your childhood memories of snow?

Hey, Santa

An Alien for the Holidays story

She doesn’t want a lot for Christmas…

Claire Otton dreads spending another holiday alone. When her best friend convinces her to approach the sexy mall Santa, she takes the chance and asks him out, hoping for so much more.

He’s waiting under the mistletoe…

Although Andreas Castellanos blends in on Earth, he knows he will never belong. But when the gorgeous woman he’d been staring at invites him to dinner, he has a hard time saying no.

All they’re asking for…

Can these two lonely souls find magic together or will their secrets steal their chance of a happy Christmas?

Available From:

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Enjoy an excerpt:
Claire smoothed her dress across her lap. The short hemline didn’t come close to reaching her knees, or barely her butt for that matter. Though a festive red color, the dress’s plunging neckline revealed even more skin. She shivered in her chair, ready to ask for her coat back. Why did she have to buy the shortest dress possible?

Like she needed it anyway, with her date already ten minutes late. She doubted he would show. Who wanted a socially inept woman? Heck, what man wanted to start dating someone two days before Christmas? She sighed, resting an elbow on the table. Why did I ask out Santa? She didn’t even know his name, what he looked like. Yet, she’d given him enough personal information to stalk her. Way to go, numbskull. She might as well have given him her house key. And since Tiffany had driven her to the restaurant, she’d have to take a cab back home.

“Hi, Claire. Sorry, I’m late.”

She jerked her head toward the deep, husky voice. Her Santa had arrived. But instead of the white-haired, bearded man with the fuzzy red suit, she stared at a Greek god. Broad shoulders. Muscles constricted by the sleeves of his dress shirt. His wavy brown hair looked wet, as if he’d recently stepped out of the shower. Or maybe snow had started to fall since she’d arrived. Pulse racing, she dared to gaze into his crystal blue eyes, the part of him she remembered from their meeting in the mall. Yet, even with his tanned complexion, something seemed not quite right with the color of his skin.

Was he as nervous as her? Her last non-double date occurred so long ago, she didn’t know how to act.

Not wanting to be rude, she stood to greet him. He had, after all, arrived rather than standing her up. And the sooner he touched her, the better.

Resting his hand on her hip, he moved closer, kissing her cheek, his lips soft and gentle. His breath smelled of fresh mint, a far cry from the last guy Tiffany had tried to set her up with.

If you'd like to get the next story in my An Alien for the Holidays series, ALIEN KISSES AT MIDNIGHT, for FREE, simply subscribe to my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/eX1Zw It will be emailed to newsletter subscribers on December 26th. 

Happy holidays! See you again in 2016!




2 comments:

  1. Wow, your weather can be hazardous there. I have family and friends in Canada and even considered moving there years ago but the opportunity didn't come up. Right now, in Africa, we are suffering awful heat waves. Where I live, we get snow in winter about once every ten years so you can imagine the fuss everyone makes. The kids don't go to school and playing in the snow is a priority. My favourite snow memory as a kid (or rather teenager) was when my sister and I stayed behind longer at my uncle's farm and we woke up one morning to discover the farm had become a winter fairyland. I will never forget how beautiful it looked! And it was really deep.

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    1. Yes, such is the joys of living here. LOL That would be beautiful, especially since you don't get snow very often. My kids live for snow days, but there has to be white out conditions in the city for that to happen. Doesn't matter if there is a foot of snow and only a select number of roads plowed. Hopefully your heat waves end! I could say we're having a winter heat wave here. It's above 0C, and there still is no snow.

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